Driving to Seattle
by OveractiveMuse
Summary: When Daphne's marriage to Donny collapses, Daphne finds herself driving back to Seattle.


_New to the Frasier fandom but I knew I had to write Niles/Daphne fan-fiction from episode is just a quick sketch. I have a couple of others that I am working on :)  
_

_Set after season seven if Something Borrowed Something Blue had ended with a wedding instead of a runaway bride and goes AU from there._

Leaving had never felt so good. I knew the moment I decided to walk out the door that this drive was going to be the most freeing one in my life. Marrying Donny had been the biggest mistake of my life. Then allowing him to convince me to leave Seattle for Phoenix was even worse. The last time I saw Niles I cried as if I could never be happy again and yet I allowed this man to take me away from everything I loved in order to become partner in a larger law firm. Finding out that he was cheating on me had been a relief. A revelation like that should come with anger, hurt and pain. Relief only happens when you have been looking for a way out for so long that when it finally comes, nothing matters except the fact that you are getting out.

Telling him that I knew about the lawyer he was sleeping with felt freeing. Never again would I have to pretend to be in love with someone I could not stand. Never again, would I have to listen to his inane chatter about a job that I found repugnant or wonder when he would stop talking or stop touching me. Never again would I fight feelings of revulsion as someone made love to me. Never again, would I wish to see someone else's face when I woke in the mornings. I only hoped that somehow I would arrive in Seattle and find that some way, somehow nothing had changed. It had been less than a year but so much could happen in such a short amount of time.

As the desert landscape gave way to mountains and pine trees, I knew that I was on my way. The first time my cell phone rang, I ignored it. The second, I picked it up, knowing it was Donny trying to goad me into coming back. I answered tersely and listened to him condescendingly ask me if I had finished having my hissy fit and was headed home. I was thrilled to be able to coolly tell him that I was never coming back and that the second I arrived in Seattle; I would be filing for divorce. The anger in his voice made me smile as I hung up on him. While I had the phone in my hand, I knew it was time to make the first of many awkward phone calls. I quickly dialed Roz's number and was thrilled when she picked up. I explained to her what had happened. She was shocked but she quickly offered me a place to stay if I was headed back home. I smiled and told her that I was already on the road. Then I took a deep breath and asked her about Niles. When she told me that he was divorced, my heart soared. When she said that she had seen him dating quite a bit recently, it crashed until she told me that he was never able to find anyone that held a candle to me and that was why he kept going on so many first dates and rarely a second before calling it off. I asked if he was still living in the Montana and she told me that he was. I smiled and told her that I might need a room but only if things went badly. She screamed into the phone and asked me if I was really going to Niles. When I confirmed it, she chatted excitedly about the idea of the two of us being together. I finally got her off the phone by promising her a girls' night when I got everything settled.

By the time I was out of state, it was so late that I simply had to pull off the road in order to get some sleep. I picked the cheapest hotel I could find and was furious when I found out that all my cards had been cancelled. I was thankful that I had created an emergency account that Donny had no clue about. I wordlessly pulled the card out and knew that it was not going to be enough to get me to Seattle. I was going to have to make a second call.

It was far too late to be calling anyone but I knew that if I waited until morning, I was going to lose my nerve. When my friend Charlotte answered the phone and I told her what was going on, she quickly agreed to wire me the money. I promised her that I would pay her back, as soon as I could and she quickly told me that I should not worry about it. She also told me how glad she was that I had gotten out. I returned the sentiment. When she asked what was in Seattle and I told her about Niles, she exclaimed that she had known that there had to be someone else that I was in love with. I told her everything about Niles. By the time I was off the phone with her, I could hardly think of sleeping but somehow I drank the orangina in my minibar and drifted.

By the time I woke the next morning, the sun was out and I was burning daylight. I got moving, paid for the hotel with the borrowed cash and kept on driving towards Seattle. About halfway through the morning I got a call from Roz from work explaining that Niles wasn't actually in Seattle at the moment but rather at a convention in Reno. I was less than an hour away and my heart leapt at the idea that I would not have to wait to see him. I drove as fast as I could get away with, finding highway patrol following me more than once before forcing myself to slow down. I could not wait to get to him.

When I pulled into the hotel and casino where he was staying, I saw the big sign and wondered how I was going to find him in the large crowds of people. I moved as fast as I could and asked at the desk where they refused to give me any information about the guests. I had no idea how to find him. The emotions of the past two days finally caught up with me and I collapsed into the closest chair and began to cry.

A little while later, someone came up to me and handed me a cloth handkerchief. I thanked them and told him that I had driven for two days. That I had just left my husband for so many reasons and that I had come here to find the man I loved to finally tell him how much I loved him. The man above me finally said my name in a wondering and surprised tone. Immediately I knew who was standing in front of me. I stood to my feet, looked into his eyes for the first time in almost a year, and found myself instantly complete again. I had not been whole in so long. One look into his eyes and I was able to breathe again.

Niles looked at me and asked if I was really in Reno looking for him. I felt horrible that he had to question if he was the man I loved. There were so many things I could say but I knew in that moment that the only thing to do was to smile at him through my tears and nod. His face broke into the widest smile as he pulled me to him and held me against him. I felt like I was home in his arms. Somewhere I had not been for so long. I took a deep breath and finally told him, "I love you Niles Crane and I'm all yours if you want me."

He pulled back slightly so that he could look at me, disbelief on his face that was searching mine for the possibility of misunderstanding. He whispered back, "Daphne am I dreaming or is this actually real?"

"Real, "I murmured as I moved towards his lips. He met me halfway. The instant our lips met, my life felt complete. The moment we finally parted smiling at each other, I had a series of visions. The first two being the one with the red bowtie and Niles was the one wearing it. The second was of the dragon in his study that Roz had given him and the third was not too far in our future where he would kiss me and a man would say, "I now present to you, for the first time, Dr. Niles Crane and Mrs. Daphne Crane."

I came back to reality and smiled at the love of my life. I had fought for far too long but now was the beginning of our happily ever after.


End file.
